How Sydney Lost “The World’s Friendliest City” Title To The U.S.

Charlestown, USA has taken over from Australia’s largest city Sydney as the world’s friendliest in the annual Conde Nast Traveler survey though it could be rightly argued that “the good-natured Australians are so appealing to international visitors”.

Image shows Charlestown, the world’s friendliest city.

Some 128,000 people who took the survey in 2015 instead chose the U.S. city of Charlestown, thanks to their southern charm, delicious food and unique architecture, broadcaster CNN reported on Wednesday.

“Europeans are heading to Charleston because they’ve heard about the food and the architecture,” Conde Nast deputy digital editor Laura Redman told CNN. “It’s getting great press, and it’s having a moment.”

PostAndCourier wrote that at least partly as a result of the publicity, the number of visitors to Charleston swelled from 4.22 million in 2010 to 5.15 million last year, a 22 percent jump, according to the College of Charleston Office of Tourism Analysis.

These are several comments from readers who confessed why they chose Charleston:

“People speak to each other.”

“It has the charm of the South, the sophistication of the city, and a warmth and friendliness that is unmatched.”

“Everything in Charleston is perfectly designed for visitors to be comfortable, safe, and well taken care of. In short, even as the city grows, Southern hospitality lives.”

Though the beautiful harbor city lost the top ranking it held last year, travellers still can’t get enough, as the good-natured Australians continue to impress visitors.

“Such friendly people, so much so that after we met an Australian woman on our flight there, she offered to pick us up at our hotel and spent a whole day showing us her favorite parts of the city,” one traveller said, according to Conde Nast.

“I would live there if possible,” another said.

Coming in third was Ireland’s Dublin, followed by thrill-seeking destination Queenstown in New Zealand while Park City in the U.S. state of Utah rounded out the top five friendliest cities in the world, according to the survey.